The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards have added LISA, RAYE, Shaboozey, Gunna, Sienna Spiro, GENER8ION and Yung Lean to a performance lineup already anchored by Madonna’s first live VMAs appearance in 23 years.
CBS and MTV announced the additions September 17. Snoop Dogg will host the ceremony live from Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 27, with Madonna opening the broadcast.
The new bookings include several performances designed specifically for the show rather than straightforward appearances behind existing hits. LISA will give “SaWaDiKa” its television debut, RAYE and Spiro are making their first VMAs performance appearances, Shaboozey and Gunna will bring “High Noon” to broadcast television for the first time, and GENER8ION and Yung Lean are preparing a world premiere.
The currently announced performance highlights include:
- Madonna — opening the VMAs with her first performance at the show since 2003
- LISA — television debut of “SaWaDiKa”
- RAYE — first VMAs performance
- Shaboozey and Gunna — first broadcast performance of “High Noon”
- Sienna Spiro — first VMAs performance
- GENER8ION and Yung Lean — world premiere of “STORM II”
MTV says additional performers, presenters and special guests will still be announced, so the list is not necessarily complete.
LISA Brings “SaWaDiKa” to the VMAs
LISA will return to the VMAs stage with the television debut of “SaWaDiKa,” a new single from her forthcoming EP PRESS PLAY.
The performance continues a solo run that has developed alongside BLACKPINK rather than simply functioning as an extension of the group. LISA has become a recurring presence at the VMAs on her own, and this year she arrives with four nominations.
CBS and MTV call her the most-nominated K-pop solo artist in VMAs history in the official performer announcement, with 10 career nominations.
Using the VMAs for the first televised performance of “SaWaDiKa” gives LISA something more substantial than another awards-show appearance. The stage becomes part of the rollout for new music, putting the song in front of a large television and streaming audience while it is still establishing its identity.
That kind of debut also fits the VMAs particularly well. The show has historically treated performances as visual events in their own right, giving artists room to build something around a song rather than simply reproduce a touring arrangement for television.
Madonna Returns After a 23-Year Absence
The night’s biggest return belongs to Madonna, whose relationship with the VMAs reaches almost as far back as the ceremony itself.
She will open the 2026 broadcast with her first live performance at the show since 2003, when she appeared with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott in a performance that became one of the defining pop-culture moments in VMA history.
Madonna’s history with the show goes much deeper. Her 1984 staging of “Like a Virgin” helped establish the VMAs as a place where the performance could become as important as the award, while her 1990 “Vogue” production turned the song into an elaborate Marie Antoinette-inspired spectacle.
The official announcement confirms that Madonna will open this year’s show.
Her return is not being positioned solely as a legacy appearance. Madonna leads the 2026 field with 11 nominations and comes into the ceremony following Confessions II, putting current music beside the considerable history attached to her return.
The booking also gives this year’s lineup an unusual generational spread. Madonna is returning after more than two decades away from the VMA performance stage while several artists appearing later in the night will be stepping onto it for the first time.
RAYE and Sienna Spiro Make Their Debuts
RAYE and Sienna Spiro will both make their VMAs performance debuts, although they reach the stage from very different points in their careers.
RAYE will perform “Where Is My Husband!,” which is nominated for Song of the Year. Her appearance follows a period in which she has moved from an in-demand songwriter and featured vocalist into a major performer under her own name, with increasingly large live audiences and awards recognition.
She is also currently performing on Bruno Mars’ stadium tour, making the VMAs another unusually large stage during an already high-visibility stretch of live work.
Spiro arrives as a Best New Artist nominee and is scheduled to perform material from her debut album Visitor. CBS and MTV say her catalog has passed one billion global streams.
The Hollywood Reporter highlights both singers among this year’s new additions.
Putting RAYE and Spiro into the same ceremony gives the VMAs two different versions of a debut: one from a performer whose career has already expanded internationally and another from a first-time nominee still introducing herself to a much broader U.S. television audience.
Shaboozey and Gunna Bring “High Noon” to TV
Shaboozey will get two distinct moments during the broadcast.
He is scheduled to perform “Cowgirl” before Gunna joins him for the first televised performance of their collaboration “High Noon.” The pairing brings together the country-facing and hip-hop sides of Shaboozey’s music within the same VMA appearance.
“Cowgirl” has passed 100 million official streams, CBS and MTV state, while its video earned nominations for Best Country and Best Cinematography.
The Gunna collaboration keeps the performance from becoming a straightforward showcase for the nominated single. “High Noon” gives Shaboozey a way to move between musical spaces on the same stage, something his catalog has increasingly allowed him to do without treating country and hip-hop as completely separate identities.
Rolling Stone points to the Shaboozey-Gunna pairing as one of the central collaborations in the newly expanded lineup.
Genre-crossing performances have long been part of the VMAs’ appeal, and this one comes with the added distinction of introducing the collaboration to broadcast television.
GENER8ION and Yung Lean Plan a World Premiere
GENER8ION and Yung Lean will make their VMAs performance debuts together with the world premiere of “STORM II.”
The pair enter the ceremony with nominations for Video of the Year, Best Direction and Best Choreography. Romain Gavras directed the “STORM II” video, while Damien Jalet received its choreography nomination.
Those credits make the booking particularly suited to an awards show centered on the relationship between music and visual presentation. Rather than revisiting an established television performance, GENER8ION and Yung Lean will use the VMAs to introduce something new.
The appearance adds another kind of first to a lineup already filled with them: debut VMA performances, television debuts and now a world premiere.
Snoop Dogg Takes Over as VMAs Host
Snoop Dogg will host the VMAs for the first time as the ceremony returns to Los Angeles.
The rapper has 13 career VMA nominations and three wins, with a history at the show that includes a 2005 tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., appearances with Dr. Dre and Eminem, and a 2022 performance with Eminem built around the Otherside metaverse.
In its host announcement, CBS and MTV also identify Snoop as an executive producer on the broadcast, meaning his involvement extends beyond appearing between performances and presenting awards.
The role reunites him with producer Van Toffler, whose history with MTV stretches across some of the network’s most influential years.
Los Angeles adds another layer to the booking. The VMAs are returning to the West Coast for the first time since 2017 after several ceremonies centered around New York and New Jersey.
The 2026 VMAs Air Live September 27
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards take place Sunday, September 27 at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
The venue calendar lists the ceremony for 4:30 p.m. local time. The television broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. ET and 4:30 p.m. PT on CBS, with MTV simulcasting the show.
Paramount+ Premium subscribers in the United States can stream the ceremony live. The Paramount+ event page carries streaming information for the September 27 broadcast, with wider international availability following through Paramount+ and MTV.
Madonna, LISA, RAYE, Shaboozey, Gunna, Sienna Spiro, GENER8ION and Yung Lean are among the performers currently confirmed, with Snoop Dogg hosting.
The lineup can still grow before show night. CBS and MTV say additional performers, presenters and special guests will be announced ahead of the ceremony.